Dialog Donates Rs. 25 Million for Welfare of Disabled Soldiers

Sri Lanka’s flagship telecommunications services provider, Dialog Telekom, paid tribute to the nation’s war heroes, presenting a sum of Rs. 25 million to the Ministry of Defence in support of the Ranaviru Retreat Centre in Attidiya. The handover took place at the proposed Ranaviru Retreat Centre in Attidiya already under construction, under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence. The presentation was made by Dialog Telekom Group Chief Executive, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, to Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse. The funds donated were drawn from Dialog’s pledge to donate Rs. 100/- per each ‘Ranaviru Recharge Card’ towards the welfare of war heroes.

The Ranaviru Retreat, a brain child of Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, is an expansive centre for disabled armed forces personnel. The centre, which is still under construction, will provide state-of-the-art treatment facilities to assist the mental and physical empowerment of seriously disabled service personnel. The Ranaviru Retreat will initially house 250 servicemen and women. Dialog’s contribution will be utilised alongside other donations towards the completion of the complex.

Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, visited the site on Thursday and inspected the progress of work and gave recommendations for the ongoing initiatives. The Defence Secretary also thanked Dialog Telekom for its contribution towards the development of the complex, and for the company’s support towards the welfare of disabled service personnel.

Dialog Telekom launched its ‘Ranaviru Recharge Card’ in February 2009, and the pledged sums have now grown to a total of Rs. 30 Million. The company donated Rs. 5 Million to the Api Wenuwen Api fund earlier this year.